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It's been a while since my last (and first) post about records with some poorly written and thought out criticism. So I thought it would be a good idea to write a new one in order to remind myself what's actually changed and make note of any other little things.

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More records

The collection has expanded significantly since my last post. I used to have 4 records, but now I have 19 of them. I also got some CDs, which I have ripped and I'm using them with Jellyfin; and I'm hoping to use them with Chime (my own music streaming server) in the future once it's feature complete and stable. I want to get more, however newer releases are expensive.

I can mostly get around this by buying from Discogs, however this only works for old albums really. Otherwise they're priced about the same. Here's a quick round up of some of my favourite additions anyway:

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Out of the Blue

In my honest opinion this is the best Electric Light Orchestra album. It has Mr. Blue Sky on it, that's it, there's nothing else to say. The futurist style album art is possibly one of the best of all time, credit to Kosh and Shusei Nagaoka. Favourite track is Turn to Stone.

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Dark Side Of The Moon

Classic Pink Floyd album, sounds amazing on vinyl. My copy is the 50th anniversary edition, which was a remastering of the original, I don't think my ears are attuned enough to hear any difference anyway. For me it's probably not the best Pink Floyd album however it is the one everyone has so that's probably what got me to get it looking back on it. Favourite track is Money.

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In The Court Of The Crimson King

I first heard the title track of this album when watching Alfonso Cuarón's 2008 film, Children of Men (incredible film, the book it was based off is just as good if not better). TLDR; most things related to this album are good. My favourite track is the title track.

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Brothers in Arms

This isn't the only Dire Straits record in my collection. Before getting this record and my other Dire Straits albums, I listened to no Dire Straits at all. This was until it was recommended to me by a friend. Favourite track is Money for Nothing, the intro riff on that track cannot be beaten. Unfortunately my copy skips on Side B, but it only does this once. This is caused by a surface scratch as well so the damage is basically permanent.

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By the Way

The second Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) album I got. In my opinion this isn't their best album but it certainly isn't their worst either, their best would have to be Blood Sugar Sex Magik or The Getaway (I'm a huge Dark Necessities enjoyer). It's a 180g pressing however like my copy of Californication annoyingly it isn't a gatefold. Also RHCP albums are usually on the more expensive side so getting new ones always hurts my bank account balance. Favourite track is Can't Stop.

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Extra vinyl stuff

Records get dirty. Sometimes they get more dirty, sometimes less. Unfortunately this is unavoidable especially when you're living with a dog. To alleviate some of this I got a cheap (sorry, I know this leaves "micro-scratches" however I don't care enough) brush off of AliExpress to brush larger pieces of dust off. The smaller ones in the cracks would have to stay for now.

I did look at various cleaning solutions to remove the really small bits of dust that got wedged in the cracks but these tend to leave residue which isn't really what you want from a cleaning solution.

The only other alternative I have found so far that looks somewhat viable is an ultrasonic cleaner however these are:

• Expensive
• Also sound like snake oil.
• Also quite big.

The snake oil theory can probably be thrown away though as there are plenty of Reddit posts saying they work. Still doesn't change the fact that they're expensive. The cheapest ones seem to be available via AliExpress from China (around the £100-£200 mark). You can also get much more expensive ones marketed specifically to record collectors, however I would rather prefer to not have a hole cut in my wallet.

TLDR; having a record collection will make your realise very quickly the benefits of and why people switched to CDs and digital music.

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The future

I definitely want to expand my collection somewhat however for now that will have to relate and I'll have to buy more books instead, as records, as mentioned previously are expensive. I'm going to university soon so I don't exactly want to bring my entire turntable and the collection with me as well. Hopefully a Tidal student subscription will do in the meantime.

I'm only looking to get albums which I like a lot, and that I'm going to listen to regularly as well because otherwise I feel like I'm kind of wasting money. Like seriously there's no point in having records unless you're going to listen to them.

I would also like to invest in some proper HiFi equipment in the long term, a decent amplifier and set of bookshelf speakers would go a long way. That is definitely a far into the future thing though.

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